Quoz: A Financial Thriller

Fintech executive Mattison puts his cryptocurrency expertise to good use in his chilling debut, which imagines a near-future threat to the global economy. In 2027, financial experts have developed “a groundbreaking quantum AI platform”: the International, Central, and Automated Regulation of the Universe of Securities, or ICARUS. During its brief existence, ICARUS has delivered on its promise to create a more stable global economy and made “bank runs, bailouts, and volatile share prices” things of the past. But just before the platform’s latest upgrade goes live, Kota Nakazawa, one of ICARUS’s chief designers, detects some disturbing anomalies in market trading patterns. He seeks advice from his disgraced former colleague, Rory O’Connor, who’s lived in Caribbean exile since he suffered a breakdown a year earlier. As the two dig into the anomalies, they unearth a vast financial conspiracy orchestrated by America’s foreign enemies that’s designed to collapse global markets. Mattison smartly heightens suspense by cluing in readers to certain details of the book’s central conspiracy before his characters unearth them, and his knowledge of international finance lends weight and authenticity. Joseph Finder fans should check this out. (Jan.)